Mind Crystal
by WildWeaselCOBRA
Summary: Crystal and Gold travel through Johto on this new and exciting adventure in the world of Pokémon! They'll encounter familiar faces, from mostly the games but a few from the manga... This is just a retelling of HG/SS with a few more details.
1. New Bark

New and exciting adventures! Crystal raced across the water, running alongside the legendary Suicune. Although they rushed across the waves, Crystal never once felt fear of sinking, she was going far too fast, almost faster than Suicune. She raced ahead of him. The Pokémon opened its mouth to speak to Crystal, and an annoying beep came out of its mouth.

Crystal turned over in bed. The alarm clock read eight AM. She was not ready to start the day. She had spent all night getting too excited, and couldn't fall asleep, but now she just wanted to nap.

New and exciting adventures! Crystal flew above the clouds, flying alongside-

"Crystal, you overslept!"

Crystal groaned. Her mother was right. She pulled her thick comforter over her head, gripping it in her hands like a vice as her mother struggled to pull the blankets off and Crystal out.

"Crystal! You're 10 now, you can't be acting like a 3-year old every morning."

Crystal snuggled closer into her pillows, mumbling, "Can your birthday gift to me be an hour more sleep?"

"No! I already bought your gift. If you hurry and get ready this morning, you can open it up before you have to go over to Professor Elm's."

Crystal scrunched her face and peered over the comforter, "Why do I have to go to the lab?"

"You promised to run an errand!"

Crystal remembered. It wasn't really a promise, though, "Mom, you volunteered me…"

"Well, it builds community spirit. Besides, he's giving you your first Pokémon today. It's only polite that you do something for him in return."

Crystal grumbled, "Gold didn't have to do anything on his birthday…"

"Young lady, you better rush out of bed and downstairs right now! Otherwise I may have to resort to a glass of ice to wake you up."

Crystal rolled out of bed and her mother left. She got dressed for the day, and found her hat and backpack. Sometimes when her mom made her run errands for people around New Bark, she had to go all the way to Cherrygrove. It wasn't far, but she had to take the long way around to avoid any wild Pokémon. So, she needed her backpack to fit in a lunch, and a couple of snacks.

Crystal ate some eggs, yogurt, and toast with her mom for breakfast. Only then could she open her birthday gift. Her present was wrapped in bright yellow paper with a dark blue bow. The package was a distinctive shape. She tore it open quickly, and received her first PokéGear. She could call her friend at any time of the day. It had access to all of the top radio stations in Johto. It was perfect!

Crystal hugged her mom, and then checked the clock. It was still only 8:47, she still had plenty of time, about 13 minutes, before she had to go over to the lab.

Crystal headed back up to her room. She relaxed on her bed, pulling out a Pokémon magazine from underneath a pillow. She flipped through the pages. A Squirtle, a Yanma, an Onix… or maybe she'd get a Marill like Gold did?

"Marill!"

Crystal jumped, and looked at her window. Gold's Marill was sitting on the sill, and she hopped onto Crystal's bed. The Marill nuzzled Crystal's arm. Crystal sat up, and she pet the Pokémon absentmindedly. With the warm summer weather, she had left the window open overnight on accident. It was a good thing that it was Gold's Marill that hopped through, and not some wild Zubat or Hoothoot!

Gold appeared on her windowsill. "Aha!" He pointed at Marill, who looked sheepish.

"GAH!" Crystal shouted, startling Marill. Marill ran back to Gold, hopping into his arms for a hug. "Gold, what are you doing!?"

"Marill and I were playing hide and seek! Sorry about this, I didn't expect her to come hopping into your room."

"That's probably why she wanted to hide here," said Crystal, sighing. "But still! You can't come crawling into girls' windows in the middle of the morning! People would talk." Crystal put her hands on her hips.

"Talk about what?"

"I don't know! But mom always says things like that."

"Oh, okay. Well, I don't want your mom mad at me." Gold began crawling back out the window, "I've got to go, though, I'll see you later."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"You're on the second floor!"

Gold looked down, and then rushed into Crystal's room.

"How did you get up here to begin with?"

Gold took off his hat and scratched the back of his head "I just spotted Marill and started climbing. I wasn't really paying attention to the height." He grinned and put his hat back on, adjusting it carefully so that it was backwards.

"Well, you can go out the door like a normal person."

Crystal got up, and dragged Gold by the back of his jacket down the stairs and out the front door. She smoothed out her clothes. Crystal started walking to the lab, Gold directly behind her.

"Why are you following me?" asked Crystal, "Didn't you say you had something to do?"

"Yeah," said Gold, "My mom told me to go run some errands for Professor Elm."

Crystal stopped outside the front doors of the lab and frowned, miserable.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you just took away all the fuel I had for 'negotiations' with my mom."

"Oh, you two were fighting again?"

Crystal crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of the lab. She sighed pathetically.

Gold's eyes went wide, sensing an oncoming storm of whining, "Well, I better go see what the Professor wanted!" He rushed inside.

Crystal grinned, looking past him as he went inside. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red, just behind the lab. She walked over to the side, and saw a kid with bright red hair crouched down, peeking through a window intently. He had a glare and a frown plastered on his face.

Crystal didn't know any kids around here who looked like that. In fact, the only other kid in New Bark, Professor Elm's kid, was barely six. But this kid couldn't be more than one or two years older than Crystal, and was probably about her age. Crystal walked up to him.

"So this is the famous Elm Pokémon Lab…" the boy muttered.

Crystal tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, shocked, and pushed her onto the ground. "Hey!" cried Crystal.

"What are you looking at? Mind your own business!" The boy ran off.

Crystal rubbed her hurt shoulder, then got up, pouting. She walked back to the front of the lab and went in, opening the door roughly.

Professor Elm's assistant peered up from his work at the young girl's muted tantrum. He was sorting some files into the lower shelves of the bookcase. He smiled gently at the girl, and Crystal stopped and waved back. Further back in the lab, Gold was standing a few feet behind Professor Elm. Crystal went to join him.

Professor Elm was examining one of the local Sentrets.

"I'm just going to take your arm now…" the man coaxed. The Sentret hesitantly allowed the Professor to examine his arm. It had a bad gash in it. "And now I'm just going to apply this potion."

As the Professor brought up the spray bottle with the potion, the Sentret screeched, swiping at his hand.

"Gah!" The Professor clutched his scratched hand. "Now, calm down, little one, this won't hurt you at all." The Professor slowly brought the spray bottle up to the Sentret. The Sentret paused for a good ten seconds, and then finally held his arm up for the Professor to spray. The wound healed, and the Sentret squeaked happily. "All better now, you see?"

Professor Elm scribbled some notes on a clipboard. He picked it up and turned around, almost tripping over Gold and Crystal.

"Gah!" He dropped the clipboard of notes and the empty potion.

The wild Sentret, startled, ran out through an open window in the lab. The Professor sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, kids, I completely forgot about our appointment. I just got too caught up in work…"

"It's okay, professor!" Gold smiled, and nodded, used to Professor Elm's vapid work ethic.

"Yeah," said Crystal, "School's out now, so we got plenty of time."

"Oh, but today you'll need quite a bit of time!" said the Professor, "I'll be sending you two past Cherrygrove."

Crystal had never gone past Cherrygrove before. However, she knew that Gold went past it every other summer with his parents to visit his grandparents, all the way at Goldenrod City.

"How far are we going?" asked Gold.

"Oh, it's just to a little bit along Route 30. You see, an associate of mine, by the name of Mr. Pokémon, has sent me an email saying that he has made a new discovery. This discovery is probably unique and rare, a complete benefit to science and Pokémon!"

"What does it do?" asked Crystal.

"Eh, probably nothing. His discoveries are usually completely useless. But! It's still a scientific curiosity. So, I'd like you two to get started right away."

Professor Elm smiled, looking at the children with faith and almost a bit of pride. After a moment, he frowned, "Um, did you two need something from me?"

"Well," said Crystal, "It's my tenth birthday-"

"Oh! Oh my, Crystal, I'm so sorry I forgot, happy birthday!"

They smiled at each other for a little longer. Marill chirped happily in Gold's arms.

"Oh! You need a Pokémon!"

"Yes, Professor."

"Of course, of course! Now let's see." Professor Elm walked over to a crowded shelf and selected three PokéBalls. "Now, you probably know all of this from Gold, but I'm going to tell you anyways! One of the things I've been researching recently is how trainers travel with and interact with their Pokémon. Most people, especially trainers, travel with their Pokémon in PokéBalls. It's easier to keep track of larger teams that way, and it's a lot safer for injured Pokémon. Now, we didn't always have PokéBalls, but we always had Pokémon. So, my hypothesis is that there may be some benefits to walking with your Pokémon. With the constant attention and communication, you may develop a deeper bond."

Professor Elm walked over to Gold and Marill, scratching the Pokémon's head affectionately. "I've already observed this little one's bond. Marill was always one of the calmer Pokémon, so I knew she wouldn't run off and get into too much trouble outside of her ball. But we can see she's developed such a deep bond with Gold over the past month, that she's picked up some of the young boy's reckless traits!"

Gold grimaced, "Hey, I'm standing right here, you know!"

"Well, she's picked up much of your friendly personality, too, Gold, so don't worry too much."

"I wasn't worried! Marill's the greatest!" Gold set down Marill, and then crossed his arms defiantly. Marill copied the same, and then giggled. "See?"

"Now, Crystal, I have three Pokémon I'd like you to choose from. Select one that has a complementary personality to yours!"

Crystal looked puzzled. "Can't I just choose the one I like the best?"

"Well, that's what I meant…" Professor Elm released the Pokémon into the lab.

The first Pokémon was Chikorita. Chikorita instantly jumped around at all the people in the lab. She spotted her old friend, Marill, and then tackled her. They happily began chirping and growling at each other.

The next Pokémon was Totodile. He looked around disinterestedly at everyone in the lab, and then wandered over to the Professor's desk as Elm was releasing the third Pokémon. He crawled up on it, waddling around by the potions, papers, and pencils. He began chewing on a stray apple.

"Hey!" Professor Elm struggled with Totodile, trying to wrest the Pokémon away from his now half-eaten lunch. The third Pokémon, Cyndaquil, shyly peeked around at Gold and Crystal from behind the Professor's legs. "That doesn't belong to you!"

Professor Elm finally pulled a laughing Totodile off of his desk. The Pokémon struggled in his grasp as he continued to speak to the two children, "Now then, have you decided?"

"I want Tototdile!" exclaimed Crystal. Totodile barked happily. Professor Elm set Totodile down and handed the Pokémon's ball to Crystal. He then returned the other two Pokémon to their own PokéBalls.

"Remember Crystal, he'll have to be outside of his ball as much as possible," said Professor Elm.

"Of course!" Crystal beamed down at the Totodile, "I think I'll call him TD!"

TD stared blankly up at Crystal.

"What, don't you like that name?"

TD shrugged, then began to nip at Crystal's feet.

"It's a perfect name," said Crystal.

Professor Elm chuckled. "Well then, it looks like you two are ready to go. Oh! Crystal, did you get a PokéGear from your mom?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"Here, let me put my phone number into it."

Crystal frowned. Responsibility had a way to weasel its way into everything.

"Oh!" said Gold, "Professor, could you put my number in, too?"

"Of course! Here you are, Crystal, you're all set."

Crystal smiled at them. She gave her own number to Gold, and then the two trainers and two Pokémon headed out to Route 29 to begin their journey.

* * *

 _Teams and Levels:_

 _Crystal: Totodile 5_

 _Gold: Marill 8_

 _Silver: None_


	2. Route 29, Cherrygrove, Route 30

It was quiet along the route that morning. Crystal kept looking around, waiting for some wild Pokémon to jump out at them. TD waddled along happily, sniffing at every other patch of grass. After about ten minutes of inane chatter and walking, Gold pulled a sandwich out of his backpack.

"You're hungry already?" asked Crystal.

"A little," he said, mouth half-full. "It's mostly because my mom would get mad if I didn't eat it all. 'I'm a growing boy' and all that." Gold swallowed.

A large patch of wildflowers ahead of them rustled. Gold froze, mid-bite.

"Gold," hissed Crystal, quiet. "Don't move." She put her finger to her lips, looking at TD. He was looking at the grass intently, ready to pounce. Marill looked up at Gold expectantly.

Suddenly, a Rattata sprang out from the wildflowers. It jumped at Gold, who dropped his sandwich in shock. The Rattata quickly picked up the sandwich and scuttered off.

"Marill, use water gun!" Gold cried.

"TD, catch it!" shouted Crystal.

Marill's water gun stopped the Rattata in its tracks. It shuddered from the more powerful Pokémon's attack. TD quickly ran up and swiped the mouse Pokémon's face. The Rattata dropped the sandwich, falling over in shock from the battle.

"Serves you right, you thief!" shouted Gold. Marill jumped up into Gold's arms, chirping happily. "Great job, Marill."

"Great job, TD!" said Crystal, clasping her hands and smiling.

TD waddled back over to the group, triumphantly barking. He then began to eat Gold's sandwich.

"Don't do that! Crystal, stop him!"

"TD retrieved it, Gold, he deserves it. Didn't you say you weren't that hungry?"

Gold sighed and set Marill down. He walked over to TD and crouched down to the Pokémon's level. "Well, if you won't do anything, I'll just take it back myself- HEY!"

Gold retracted his hand quickly. It stung from where TD had bit at it. The big jaw Pokémon ate the rest of Gold's sandwich, and burped happily.

"Gold, you can't just take food away from a Pokémon!"

"He took it away from me…"

When the duo got to Cherrygrove, they saw that only a few people were out that day. Gold waved kindly at the old guide sitting by the town entrance, who smiled at them. The very first time Gold and Crystal were sent on an errand here, to pick up some more potions for Professor Elm, Guide Gent had shown them the way to the Pokémart when they got lost. He even bought them some decent travelling shoes after hearing that they were running errands. Even though Cherrygrove was probably the smallest city in Johto, it was still a lot bigger than New Bark Town.

Now that they were a little older, they usually did errands separately. Today was different.

"Is that a new Pokémon I see?" asked Gent.

"Yep!" beamed Crystal, "This is TD! He's the greatest Pokémon in Johto!"

Gent chuckled, "Oh, I see. I suppose it won't be too long until you kids are ready to take on the gyms."

"You really think so?" asked Gold, "I've seen the fights on TV. I'm not sure Marill's up to that yet."

"Well, your Pokémon will grow more from the journey than the gyms themselves," said Gent. "You see, back when I was a trainer, I challenged the gym in Violet City. Back then, I had a Weedle, a Spinarak, and a Pidgey."

"I didn't know you were a trainer!" said Crystal, "Once we finish up our errands, can we battle?"

TD jumped up and down eagerly.

"Oh, not anymore. That was a long time ago."

TD frowned, and wandered off to smell at the flowers.

"Did you end up getting the badge?" asked Gold.

"Oh, no. But I did get a chance to face the gym leader, Falkner. You see, me and my Pokémon didn't actually learn all that much from the gym- it was really all the training we did, against wild Pokémon and other trainers aiming for the badge, that really caused us to grow."

"But here I am babbling on again! I wish you kids good luck on your errand!"

They thanked Guide Gent and wandered over to the beach to rest their feet from the journey. Since the beginning of summer, a small ice cream stand had been set up on the beach.

"I'm going to go buy some ice cream," said Gold.

"Oo! Could you get me Mt. Mortar flavor?" asked Crystal.

"No way! I consider you equally responsible for losing my lunch, and now I got to go replace it. I'm only sharing with Marill." With a huff, Gold trudged over to the ice cream stand with his proud Pokémon.

Crystal shook her head and crossed her arms. "Ice cream for lunch? That boy is really irresponsible."

TD copied her pose, crossing his arms and nodding.

"Honestly TD, I don't know what to do with him," Crystal looked over at TD. On TD's arm, she could see a bit of redness from a scratch. "Ah! TD! You're hurt!"

TD looked up at Crystal in surprise, and then was scooped up as Crystal rushed him over to the Pokécenter.

Nurse Joy helped out Crystal cheerfully. After she finished, crystal released TD from his Pokéball again.

"I can't believe I missed it from your fight earlier! TD, let me see your arm," said Crystal. TD grunted, crossed his arms, and looked away.

"You know," said Nurse Joy, "It's refreshing to see a trainer bring in a Pokémon that early."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most of them push themselves and their Pokémon far too hard, and they come in with cuts, broken bones, burns- all sorts of things! And then I just fix them up, remind them to take it easy, and they go out again."

Crystal frowned, "Oh, I hope I'm not doing this wrong. TD, it's okay if you're a little bit more banged up before we come in here."

TD nodded with a grunt.

"Well then, it's settled!" Crystal grinned at TD, and then looked serious. "Let's make a deal TD- I won't pull you out of a fight unless you say it's okay."

TD looked at Crystal suspiciously.

"Pinky promise?" Crystal extended her pinky to the Pokémon. TD, a little confused, shook it. Crystal smiled broadly, "Then it's settled! A pinky promise is for life, don't you know?"

TD barked happily. Nurse Joy sighed, resigned to her fate.

Crystal rejoined Gold outside as he was finishing up his ice cream. Once he got to the cone, he gave it to Marill who happily began nibbling on it.

"What happened?" asked Gold.

"I think TD got a scrape during that fight with the Rattata. We got it checked out, though, so we're all good to go." Crystal checked the time. It was already ten AM.

"Yeah, I guess we shouldn't hang around town all day," said Gold, sighing. Marill finished up the ice cream, and the group headed off.

At the mouth of Route 30, Crystal's PokéGear began ringing.

"Oh! That must be the professor!" said Gold.

Crystal pressed the answer button on her PokéGear and Professor Elm's face popped up on the small screen.

"How's it going professor?"

"Oh, it's going well here. I just wanted to remind you to make sure to rest your Pokémon, this is the first time 'TD' has been out in the wild since we caught him."

"Oh, yes, I just brought him to the Pokécenter. You know, he and Marill fought off a Rattata? My TD's unstoppable."

"What?! You were already in a fight? Well, make sure to use the potion if you need to. AH! I forgot to give you the potion! You need to come back-" Crystal suddenly heard his assistant speaking, but the words weren't clear. "Oh! Well, thank you. Yes, Crystal, make sure you two use your potions if you need to."

"We will, professor!"

"Oh, and have Totodile spend some time in the water at Cherrygrove, it's good for water types. Oh! But watch out for water pokemon!"

"Professor-"

"Really, there can be some powerful Pokemon in the water. And if you need more potions, just stop by the PokeMart, have them put it on my credit line if you don't have enough money with you. And-"

Crystal hung up the phone. She grimaced at Gold. "Really, some adults can be so overbearing."

TD cocked his head at Crystal, narrowing his eyes.

They continued along the route without much more fuss from Professor Elm. However, it wasn't too long until they came across a wild Weedle. The Weedle was aggressive, snarling at them.

TD charged at the Weedle.

"Yeah!" shouted Crystal, "Scratch him! And look out for his poison sting!"

Crystal had pored over enough Pokémon magazines and guidebooks to see this as an easy win for her Totodile.

TD scratched the Weedle before it had a chance to respond. The Weedle reared back, then hit the larger Pokémon with its tail. TD barely staggered from the blow, and knocked out the Weedle with two more swipes.

"Hey, not bad!" said Gold. "Marill didn't even need to help out!" Marill was chirping at a few Pidgey hanging out near the road.

"I mean," said Crystal, "You certainly COULD have helped out a little instead of just watching."

"Well, TD needs the battle experience. And yeah, I got distracted."

TD barked happily, trotting over to Crystal. He staggered a little, holding his head.

"What's wrong?" asked Crystal, bending down to look at TD.

"Oh, he might be poisoned," said Gold, "Maybe we should head back to the PokeCenter."

TD grunted and shook his head.

"You want to keep going?" asked Crystal. TD nodded.

"Well then, it's settled!"

"Wait," said Gold, "You know that poison can only get worse over time, right?"

"Of course! But I promised TD not to coddle him."

"Well, okay," said Gold, "But Marill and I won't slow down for you guys."

"Ha!" Crystal buffed her fingers on her chest and turned her chin up, "TD's the toughest Pokémon in Johto! Maybe you guys need help keeping up with us."

TD barked happily, jumping up and down. He staggered a little, almost falling over, but regained his balance.

They were coming up to a lone house along the trail when TD toppled over.

"TD?" asked Crystal, her voice getting higher with worry.

TD grumbled a little, slowly standing up and wobbling. Crystal took TD up in her arms. He struggled a little, but was too tired to squirm about too much.

"We should really go back to Cherrygrove," said Gold.

"Well, we're almost half way there," said Crystal. She bit her lip, "But maybe we should rest a little."

A man came out of the house, carrying a basket. He suddenly noticed the kids, and walked over. He peered down at TD. "I think your Totodile is poisoned. Here, I have just the thing."

"Who are you?" asked Gold.

The man handed a large berry to Crystal. She fed it to TD, who was happy for the extra food. He blinked a little bit, and then grinned.

"That's a poison-cure berry," said the man, "You can't get that at a PokeMart! You kids should look around for more berries, they're useful if you get too far from a Pokecenter."

"Or we could use an antidote," said Gold, "Or just walk fifteen minutes back to the Pokecenter."

"Well, yes, that's true," said the man. "I've got a lot of berry bushes near my house, so feel free to take some if you need any. In the summer, they replenish practically every day!" The man happily headed off to a patch of bushes near his home, and began collecting the berries.

Crystal set TD down, but he was still light headed. "Um, how about I use a potion? We never made any promises about that…"

TD shrugged in defeat, and accepted the potion. After a few moments, he was jumping and running around happily, full of energy again.

"Ok, let's get going," said Gold.

The grass got a lot thicker along the Route, as they had to turn off the main trail to get to Mr. Pokémon's house. A trio of Pidgeys pestered them for a little bit, but Marill joined in and they easily continued without dire injury.

Finally, they arrived in a clearing, and saw Mr. Pokémon's house.

* * *

 _Teams and Levels:_

 _Crystal: TD (Totodile) 7_

 _Gold: Marill 9_

 _Silver: None_


	3. Mr Pokemon, The Lab, Cherrygrove

The inside of Mr. Pokémon's house was filled with all sorts of old furniture and shelves piled into one large room. A few large server cabinets sat in the back corner, with an amalgam of wires feeding into a single desktop computer. Many different types of feathers, scales, and rocks sat on the shelves. Some were labeled, even enclosed in glass, but most were lumped together in large piles.

An old man with a shock of white hair stood by the computer, chatting with someone over video. A man in a business suit and nice hat sat at a large dining table near the entrance, scratching notes and peering at a large egg with odd spots and markings. This man looked up when the two kids and their Pokémon entered the house.

"Ah! You two must be Gold and Crystal," he stood up, and shook their hands. "Professor Elm said you would visit. Here, this is what I want Professor Elm to look at." He grabbed the egg off of the table and handed it to Gold.

"It's warm," said Gold.

"Strange, isn't it? I friend of mine from Ecruteak gave it to me. I haven't seen any egg like this in Johto. I was hoping that Professor Elm might be able to tell what this is." He gestured over to the old man on the computer. "After all, the famous Professor Oak even said that 'He's the best when it comes to the research of Pokémon evolution.' Isn't that right?"

The man on the computer smiled at them and walked over, "Excuse my manners, I was just talking to my grandson over in Kanto. My name's Professor Oak, I'm a Pokémon researcher!" Professor Oak shook their hands, and then knelt down to shake the hands of TD and Marill. Marill complied happily, bouncing around with Oak's arm. TD was tempted to bite Oak's hand, just for fun, but somehow didn't.

"I'm Crystal," said Crystal, "That's TD, he's the greatest Pokémon in Johto."

"Oh, is that so?" Professor Oak chuckled.

"I'm Gold," said Gold, "And this is Marill."

"Well, it's nice to meet you. That Totodile's quite a rare Pokémon. I see, you must be helping Professor Elm's research." Oak nodded and stood up. "I think I understand why he gave you those Pokémon. It seems you treat them with love and care, they seem to be quite close with you."

Gold nodded, "Yeah, I got Marill a month ago, and Crystal just got TD this morning."

"Really? Well, you seem to be rather dependable! How would you like to help me out?" The professor pulled out a small electronic device from his pocket and opened it up. It had a screen and a few buttons, displaying a young Bulbasaur on the screen.

Crystal's eyes widened, "Is that a Pokédex?"

"Indeed! This is actually the latest version. The older model has a complete list of all Pokémon in the Kanto region, but this one is capable of cataloguing all the Pokémon to be found in Johto, and perhaps a few other regions. I'd like you two to have this."

Crystal grabbed it, "Really?"

"Of course! The old assistant I had filling it up has gone off on some new adventure, it seems. I'm afraid I only have one with me, so you two will have to share. Still! Two heads are certainly better than one."

"There's a lot of cool Pokémon by my grandparents' house," said Gold, "When I go to Goldenrod this summer, you'll have to come and help me, Crystal."

"Right!" Crystal beamed.

"Oh!" said the Professor, "I've stayed too long. I actually have to get to Goldenrod, for my usual radio show. Gold, Crystal: I have a feeling this is not the last time we'll meet. Let's exchange numbers, so I can stay updated on your progress and you can ask if you have any questions."

* * *

Silver hesitated. The window was wide open now, and last he checked, the professor's back was turned. All morning, he had been worried about someone spotting him since that scare earlier. Some clueless girl from the town had managed to sneak up on him. Lucky for him, she soon left town, and apparently was too pathetic to even look for an adult to report him.

However, the small town was now quiet, and it looked like both people in the lab were busy at work. The only better time would have been at night, but he knew from last night that the windows were kept closed and locked as soon as it got dark out, and he didn't want to cut something breaking the glass. He wasn't sure if the professor's desk was kept locked at night, either.

No, the best time to steal a Pokémon would be now. Silver hoisted himself up over and through the windowsill, careful to avoid disturbing anything on the table directly below it. He landed on the floor with a barely audible tap, that may as well have been a crash, considering his nerves. But neither of the men in the lab so much as twitched.

Silver walked over to Professor Elm's desk, eyes kept steadily on the professor as the older man concentrated on typing something in at the computer and compact Pokécenter station at the other end of the room. He slid open the desk drawer, and his breath caught. Old wood scraping against old wood was obnoxiously loud in the quiet room.

Although the professor didn't hear him, his assistant did. The assistant glanced over at the sound by the desk, and caught Silver's eyes.

"Hey, who are you?" exclaimed the assistant.

Silver grabbed the first PokéBall he could and ran for the window.

Professor Elm looked over, and realized the situation. "Stop!"

But Silver dove out, scattering potions and books all over the table beneath the window.

Silver kept running, going straight through the winding hills and grasslands along Route 29. He lost his way, and had to backtrack several times. The whole way, he couldn't help but here police sirens in his head. He didn't stop until he hit the entrance to Cherrygrove. Now, he had a chance to breathe and test his Pokémon.

Suddenly, Silver bumped into someone. It was a young girl with a big white hat. It was the same girl from that morning who spooked him.

* * *

Crystal and Gold left Mr. Pokémon's house, happy to be headed home so early. It hadn't taken nearly as long as they thought to get to their destination, at least now that they had two Pokémon to help clear their path.

Crystal's phone went off. "It's the professor again!" she exclaimed.

She pulled up the phone on her PokéGear.

"H-hello?" stammered Professor Elm in a frenzy, "It's a disaster! This is terrible! Oh, you kids better get back right away!"

"Professor? What's wrong?" asked Crystal. The line went dead.

"What was that about?" asked Gold.

"I'm not sure, he said we needed to get back home right away. Hold on, I'm going to try calling him back." Crystal put the phone on speaker and dialed his number. The professor picked up after the fourth ring, relieving the kids.

"Crystal, I'm very upset. We just had a Pokémon stolen here."

"What? That can't be!"

"Who would do such a thing?" demanded Gold.

"You kids better get back right away," said Professor Elm, "I can explain it all here. But right now, you need to get home. There's no telling how dangerous this person is, and I don't want you running into him!"

"Okay!" said Crystal, suddenly serious. "We'll be back in a flash, professor, just sit tight and don't you worry."

They ran through the tall grass back towards Cherrygrove. Although they were able to evade most of the wild Pokémon, one Weedle managed to sting Marill. Gold sustained Marill's stamina with a potion, but by the time they got back to Cherrygrove, Marill was wobbling and about to fall over.

"It'll only be a minute," said Gold. He rushed his Pokémon through the doors of the PokeCenter. Crystal paced impatiently outside, wandering around towards the mouth of the road that would lead them back to New Bark Town.

TD waddled around, carefree. He started crawling over a fence, and played around in the flowers. When he began pulling at them, Crystal finally spoke up.

"Hey! TD! You shouldn't do that!"

Crystal's Totodile looked up at her with a blank stare, and then continued breaking the garden.

"TD… You're going to get me in trouble," whined Crystal.

Suddenly, Crystal was knocked back as a young kid bumped into him. This kid had long red hair, and was about her age. This was the kid who was hanging around Professor Elm's laboratory earlier!

The two of them shouted in surprise. TD heaved himself over the fence and went over to them to see what was the matter.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Crystal rubbed her forehead, sniffling a little from the small bump on her head. The kid didn't seem to have noticed any pain when they slammed into each other.

"You got a Pokémon from the lab," The red-headed kid looked at TD, and snorted. "What a waste." The kid had an angry glare plastered on his face.

"Excuse me?" Crystal put her hands on her hips.

"That's a Pokémon that's too good for the likes of you." The kid stared down Crystal.

"TD's the best Pokémon in the world. What's that got to do with me?"

"Don't you get what I'm saying?" the kid scoffed. "Well, I too have a good Pokémon. I'll show you what I mean!"

The kid backed up a few paces. TD scurried over to his trainer's side, ready for battle.

The kid reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a PokéBall. He expanded it, and then tossed it at the ground. A familiar Chikorita emerged.

"It's Chikorita!" shouted Crystal. She pulled out the Pokédex, which scanned the Pokémon.

The device buzzed out, "Chikorita: The Leaf Pokémon. It loves to bask in the sunlight. It uses the leaf on its head to seek out warm places."

"Ah, I already knew all that," whined Crystal.

The kid pursed his lips in annoyance. He glanced behind him, and the back at his Chikorita. He was staring up at the kid curiously.

"Okay, Chikorita- Go ahead and use tackle!"

The Chikorita grinned, and rushed at his old friend. TD staggered back from the impact, surprised. Usually, he had always been trampled over whenever he and his friend played.

"You can take it, TD!" shouted Crystal, "Go ahead and use scratch."

TD scraped at Chikorita, who back-pedaled in shock from the blow.

"TD, keep it going!"

"Chikorita, use growl!"

The Chikorita growled at TD as the Pokémon leapt towards him. TD hesitated slightly, which weakened the blow of his attack.

"Now, Chikorita, use tackle again!"

Chikorita slammed into TD again.

"TD, return his blows! Don't get psyched out, that Chikorita's almost down!" Crystal examined both Pokémon. She could easily tell how much stronger TD had gotten just from this one day of training. However, it looked like this kid hadn't trained Chikorita at all yet.

The kid grunted, "You're doing OK for someone weak. Chikorita, don't let that Totodile hit you!"

But in just a few blows, Chikorita was down for the count. TD was barely winded. He jumped up into Crystal's arms, barking happily.

"Are you happy you won?" sneered the kid. He returned Chikorita to his PokéBall.

"I guess. But who are you?"

"I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer. And that's all you need to know." The kid ran past Crystal, bumping into her again. Crystal fell to the ground this time. She spotted something.

"Hey!"

The kid ran past the PokeCenter as Gold came out. Gold walked over to his friend's side, helping her up, "Who was that?"

"…Silver," Crystal showed Gold a trainer card that the kid, Silver, had dropped just moments before.

"Give it back!" suddenly, Silver was in their face again. His serious glare turned to shock. "Y-you know my name!" He swiped the card off of Crystal, then ran off, muttering in panic.

Gold paused, and looked at Crystal, "So he's not a friend, then?"

Crystal shrugged, grimacing.

* * *

 _Teams and Levels:_

 _Crystal: TD (Totodile) 8_

 _Gold: Marill 9_

 _Silver: Chikorita 5_


	4. Update

If anyone's still interested in this, I'm making it into a sprite comic instead, here: kl-writes tumblr com/tagged/pokemon-mind-crystal/chrono


End file.
